NZ High Commission

Kia ora,

It’s the end of another good year for New Zealand in Malaysia – and one that feels like it’s flown by! After a packed year of activities in 2017 to celebrate 60 years of Malaysia-New Zealand friendship, we’ve kept up the pace in 2018.

A highlight was the repatriation in August of New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) soldiers and their dependents who were buried in Malaysia. Congratulations to the NZDF on a successful operation to bring our people home, and we will always be grateful to the Malaysian Armed Forces for their excellent support.

We were glad to have the New Zealand Minister of Finance and Sports Grant Robertson here for our first ministerial visit since the change of Malaysia’s government in May. We had some good conversations with a few of Malaysia’s new Ministers, as well as Malaysian and New Zealand businesspeople here. We’ll be hoping for more high-level engagements between New Zealand and Malaysia in the year to come.

And as usual we’ve been continuing to work with the Malaysian government, alumni of New Zealand universities, Malaysian and New Zealand businesspeople, civil society and friends of New Zealand. We appreciate all the support we’ve had from everyone this year.

May’s election was a moment of huge change for Malaysia, and it was certainly exciting to be here in the country to see it. It’s been a year of change for us here at the High Commission as well, with John Subritzky finishing his time as High Commissioner and Richard Mann stepping in to cover the gap afterwards. Since October, I’ve been filling in until our new permanent High Commissioner starts in February next year. It’s been a challenge to step into the Head of Mission’s shoes, but it’s been a rewarding one – and luckily at one of the quieter parts of the year!

Here’s wishing a happy and safe festive season to all the New Zealanders, Australians and friends of both countries in Malaysia.